Challenge,  Kickstarter Campaign,  Pulphouse Fiction Magazine

Starting A Kickstarter Is Fun

I Have Done 33 Kickstarters Now!!

They are always fun to start. The decisions and the work to put them together is also fun, but coming down to that moment you hit “Launch Project” is just exciting. It does not get old.

I assume you know we launched a Pulphouse Fiction Magazine Subscription Drive 2023 Kickstarter about two days ago, right at noon.

The patterns of Kickstarters is that for the first day or so, they really jump. Right now the Pulphouse Kickstarter funded in 40 minutes and in six hours had hit the first stretch goal. And now we are only a short distance from the next stretch goal.

It’s on the third stretch goal that we open up Pulphouse Fiction Magazine to submissions for only the backers who help us on this subscription drive. That will be fun for me, the editor, to be honest.

Then most campaigns are slow through the middle time and then surge at the end. Or we hope there is a surge. (grin)

And the magazine is going monthly now as well.

I know that seems a big jump from six issues a year. And since the last subscription campaign, we only got out three issues because of my eye problems. So anyone who took a subscription last year still has three issues left, which will be the October, November, and December issues. That’s why we are giving everyone a six issue subscription no matter the reward they sign up for. That will get everyone to the next subscription drive next July.

Of course you can go for a year as well to take you beyond. Everything helps.

Also we are working at the same time on a Pulphouse Shopify store. That will be really fun and I will announce the launch in a few weeks.

Our Kickstarter campaigns always have nifty workshops as well. We call them special workshops and they are only available through the Kickstarter. They are never put up for sale anywhere else.

The titles of the two special workshops this time are:

KNOWN AND STRANGE THINGS…This workshop’s title pretty much describes what many Pulphouse stories are at their core. A known thing turned strange (think a lot of Twilight Zone stories) or a strange thing written as if it is known. 

This workshop will help you learn how to do that in three short weeks. It will be a class that will surprise and shock you at times. 

I CAN’T BELIEVE I’M WRITING THIS… All writers have a moment in a few stories where they surface and shake their heads and say to themselves: “I can’t believe I’m writing this.” But for most writers, these moments are few and far between, and they often signal that the story will be different and great and that is what sells. Same and boring never sells.

In three weeks we will help you access that part of your writing skills that allows you to write fiction that you can’t believe you wrote. This will be an eye-opening and really fun class.

Both are three-week classes and the third assignment is to write a short story. You have your choice of taking either class in August or September.  More details on the Kickstarter. And yes, you can get them both for a discount.

But remember, these workshops will never be for sale. Only get them through the campaign.

Don’t miss this one Kickstarter. My 33rd… It has all sorts of fun stuff. Thanks!!

Pulphouse Fiction Magazine 2023 Subscription Drive.

Below is me talking about what the campaign contains. (Might have to click it twice to start.)

7 Comments

  • Philip

    In my opinion, this Kickstarter has some of your best, most interesting rewards. It’s pretty clear you’ve evolved your campaigns from great to excellent. Excited to see how they continue to debelop. Curious where you got that cool little creature from.

    • dwsmith

      Thanks. Just got him from a royalty free site and bought extended license so we could use him for a bunch of stuff. He’s very cool.

  • E.R. Paskey

    Yes, Kickstarters are a lot of fun! I’ve only run two of them, so far, but the excitement is addicting. I finished my last one in June and immediately started trying to figure out what to do for the next one, but the project I had in mind isn’t finished yet.

    And then yesterday while I was telling my husband about a bunch of cool new things I’ve been learning about Kickstarters, he asked me if I was planning to run one for a romance spy novel I just finished. I hadn’t, and he asked me why not? I didn’t have any good reasons. *grin* So… looks like I’ll be experimenting with a Kickstarter for a standalone novel in a different genre.

    Really, this is such an exciting time to be a writer! I’m grateful for you, Kris, Loren, and everyone else who is helping to teach and share about Kickstarters, POD products, and everything else.

    • dwsmith

      It really is fun stuff. And I’ll be glad to look at your campaign before you launch. And remember you can add your other books to a campaign, even iff a different genre as rewards or whatever.

      Thanks for the kind comments.

  • Anthea Sharp

    Kickstarters are so much fun!! And wow, 33. Inspiring. I don’t think I”ll be able to catch up (grin) but you know I’m back there on the path behind you. Thanks for, as ever, helping lead the way.

  • Brad D. Sibbersen

    Inspired by the Teachables class my very first Kickstarter is running right now! It WAS exciting to press that Launch button. Now it’s just nerve-wracking! Been posting about it on TikTok, Instagram, etc. all week, got the trailer in circulation, nagged my friends to spread the world. The needle moves, but SO slowly! Argh! This being my first ever I’m trying to treat it as a learning experience as I can always re-calibrate and try again — and there’s always the next project, of course — but if this isn’t the thing that strokes me out my health is better than I think!

    Thanks, Dean and Loren for the class (which I recommend to everyone reading this), and if you click my name right now the link takes you to my Kickstarter so if you’ve an interest in unique horror fiction, please check it out!

    • dwsmith

      Brad, write me directly if interested in what is happening with your campaign and why. To learn for the next one.